I just had an amazing lunch hour session on the alaia. For
those of you who are unfamiliar with these weird looking ironing boards, the
alaia is a flat wooden board rediscovered by Tom Wegener and based on the
ancient Hawaiian boards. These boards are challenging to ride at first, but are
well worth the wipe outs. Once you have them wired, I can honestly say they are
the funnest boards for those small clean days. Super smooth and fast, you carve
on your rail, pull 360’s at will (and sometimes even when you don’t mean it!) and
generally surf waves that not even the Mals can. Check out this clip for some
ideas (http://vimeo.com/15613970)
They are pretty thin (normally under 1.5 inches thick),
about 5-7ft long, and around 17-19 inches wide. They are commonly built with a
rolled nose through to a tri-planning hull with a single or double concave
through back third of the board. With a fairly straight outline and knife sharp
rails they are total speed machines.
I made from Paulownia with red wood stringers. It has
been snapped three times, glued back together and re-shaped twice, and it is a blast to ride!
They are simply
oiled and are totally eco-friendly. Give me a bell if you are interested – I’ll
be building some new alaias when I place the next timber order, prices will
start at about $250.
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